Vocabulaire Essentiel pour le GRE - La Littérature

a work of fiction with an intermediate length, which could be considered a short novel

roman court

a long poem in narrative form giving an account of the extraordinary deeds and adventures of a nation's heroes or legends

épopée

a historical account of events presented in chronological order

chronique, annales

a lyric poem, written in varied or irregular metrical form, for a particular object, person, or concept

ode

a piece of writing, music, etc. that imitates the style of someone else in a humorous way

parodie

a short story on morality with animal characters

fable

a brief symbolic story that is told to send a moral or religious message

parabole

a Japanese poem with three unrhymed lines that have five, seven and five syllables each

haiku

a short poem or phrase that expresses a single thought satirically, often ending in a clever or humorous way

épigramme

a long story of heroic actions and bravery in old Norse or Icelandic in the Middle Ages, or a modern narrative resembling such a narrative

épopée

a short quotation or phrase that is written at the beginning of a book or any chapter of it, suggesting the theme

épigraphe

a humorous poem of five anapestic lines with a rhyme scheme of AABBA

limerick

the creative and imaginative expression of powerful feelings in art, poetry, music, etc.

lyrisme

spoken or written language in its usual form, in contrast to poetry

prose

the collection of artistic or literary works produced by a particular painter, author, etc.

œuvre

a subject, idea, or phrase that is repeatedly used in a literary work

thème

the way in which characters in a movie, book, etc. are created and represented by a writer

création de personnages

villainous character who strongly opposes another person or thing

antagoniste, adversaire

the main character in a movie, novel, TV show, etc.

protagoniste

to make a book, play, etc. short by omitting the details and including the main parts

abréger, raccourcir

to describe a specific subject, scene, person, etc.

dépeindre, décrire

a section of additional material that is usually added at the end of a book

addendum

a short introductory section at the beginning of a book, usually written by someone other than the author

avant-propos

a part at the end of a book including some final words that may not be written by the author

épilogue, mot de la fin, postface

a series of lines in a poem, usually with recurring rhyme scheme and meter

strophe

a set of words that usually have a rhythmic pattern

strophe, vers

a verse of Italian origin that has 14 lines, usually in an iambic pentameter and a prescribed rhyme scheme

sonnet

exciting and intriguing in a way that attracts someone's attention

captivant, passionnant

giving a lot of information briefly and clearly

concis

(of an author or literary work) accepted as highly acclaimed authors or pieces of literature, which are collectively referred to as the literary canon

canonique

(of writing or speech) full of literary or complicated words and phrases

fleuri

behaving in an artificial way that is too formal, trying to impress others

maniéré

sexually explicit or morally obscene

cochon, obscène

scholarly and highly interested in cultural or artistic matters

ntellectuel, savant, cérébral

a book, movie, play, etc. that continues and extends the story of an earlier one

suite

an ancient book, written by hand, especially of scriptures, classics, etc.

codex

an author whose work is published under someone else's name

nègre, nègre littéraire, prête-plume

someone who is known for writing or telling humorous stories or jokes about real people and events

humoriste, comique

a playwright who writes tragedies

tragédien, tragédienne

a male literary author or scholar

lettré, homme de lettres

a person who writes or uses satires in order to criticize or humor someone or something

satiriste